Hijabis working out: finding the right sport

Finding the right sport that fits you can be quite the challenge. At least, in my case it was. Before I found my favorite sport 3 years ago, I tried numerous sports and now, I can sincerely say that running has been my best step (literally)! Finding a sport you really enjoy, is important because you don’t just maintain it longer. You get to really enjoy it. I will guide you through the sports that I have tried out so far.

First stop: spinning

One of the sports is spinning, which is cycling while standing or sitting on a special bike. Thereby you get all kinds of exercises. It is very intensive. At that time, I was quite heavy and with this sport, I lost a lot of weight. Despite the fact that I ate what I wanted and I paid no attention to what I was eating. I was very ignorant in terms of nutrition, so I thought that all I had to do, was exercise to lose weight. But not knowing that everything stands or falls by the right nutrition. It is a fun sport, but it was not my thing. The saddle of the bike also did not help out.

Next stop: Zumba

Then I was dragged to Zumba by my sister, which was fun. The moves are not that hard with Moroccan blood running through my veins and this was intensive as well. But with Zumba once a week, it does not have a great effect on your body. That is the case with any sport. So after a while, I stopped. So on to the next sport!

Loving luxury

Via my job, I could get a subscription with a luxurious fitness center. So I grabbed this opportunity with both hands! There, I discovered a machine on which you have to sit or lie for 2 x 15 minutes to get the amount of fat burning that was equal to one hour of cardio training. I thought to have found the sport I was really looking for! 2 x 15 minutes and not having to do anything else? Perfect, right? Who does not want that. However, I found out very fast that this was the biggest nonsense. But my luxurious fitness center did have a great sauna in the ladies dressing room, so I ended sitting there more often than in the fitness room itself.

Fourth time is a charm: running

Then came my love, running. In the beginning I have laughed at my sister. Running? Hell NO! Me with hijab, running outside? No way. Everything (and by that I mean rolls of fat) that goes up and down. But my sister lost a huge amount of weight. She paid good attention to her nutrition, which I was already doing in the meantime, because after all the working out, I started to focus on nutrition. So I decided to give it a try. After that, I was immediately sold. The adrenaline, the freedom of being outdoors, I cannot even begin to compare with the smelly fitness centers. And from then on, I knew it, working out in the outdoors fits best with me. No machines, no fuss, having the freedom to work out whenever I wanted, no obligations towards opening times. Complete freedom! Now three years later, I have already ran my first half marathon and the next one is scheduled. Yes with hijab 😉 Because that is absolutely no limitation to work out.

Choose a sport that really fits you, check for yourself what is important to you. Only then, you will experience the joy I feel when I run.

The Healthy Sisters are a team of two sisters, who want to motivate others to eat healthy and work out. Najima is a nutritionist who loves to share facts about food and easy ways to eat healthier. Rachida is a runner, who likes to run marathons and motivate others to do the same.